Siobhan Finneran and Steve Pemberton: 'It's been heartbreaking to leave Benidorm!' | News | TV News | What's on TV TAGS: benidorm siobhan finneran steve pemberton It will soon be time to bid a fond farewell to the Garvey family who’ve had some crazy holidays at the Solana Hotel since Benidorm began in 2007. In an emotionally charged episode of the comedy on 9 January (ITV, 9pm) Mick, Janice, Madge and Michael Garvey hear some amazing news from eccentric California lawyer Buck A Roo (Leslie Jordan). He tells them Madge has inherited millions from a secret family member in Las Vegas and Mr A Roo invites them out to America to claim their cash. Leaving Benidorm , ITV’s top comedy show, was a very difficult decision for both Siobhan Finneran and Steve Pemberton, who play Janice and Mick Garvey, but it was one they made together… “Benidorm has always been more than just a TV show for us,’ admits Steve, who’s been starring in Mapp and Lucia on BBC1 over the festive season.

“We’re such good friends and part of one big happy family. Working on Benidorm has been the most fun I’ve ever had. I’d have kept going for the rest of my life, but there are other considerations. “It was a very difficult decision, but the amount of time we were away from home was key. We all sat down and discussed it during series 6. It’s great that we had the same instinct to go at the same time. No one wanted to go on their own. So all things considered, it was absolutely the right time to leave.” The last scenes the actors filmed as the Garvey family in Spain last summer left them in tears, as Siobhan Finneran explains: “We were in a terrible state. It was our decision to stop, but it was still heartbreaking. A lot of guest stars – brilliant people like David Bradley – have said it’s a treat of a job, and they’re right. “Steve, Sheila Reid (Madge), Oliver Stokes (Michael) and I have a very special relationship. There’s a fantastic chemistry between us as human beings and on the screen as the Garveys. So it was really, really upsetting to say goodbye to the cast and crew.

You know you’re not going to work with them ever again. Then to come home and think, “Blimey, we’ve actually done it”, is quite something.” * The Garveys final Benidorm episode will be shown on ITV, 9pm, Friday January 9. Benidorm Episode 7 ITV’s award winning comedy Benidorm is back for a brand new seventh series. As this series begins we prepare to bid a fond farewell to the Garvey family. Before we say ‘Adios’, there’s one more holiday adventure awaiting Mick (Steve Pemberton), Janice (Siobhan Finneran), Michael (Oliver Stokes) and Madge (Sheila Reid). As The Garveys fly out, The Oracle (Johnny Vegas), his mother Noreen (Elsie Kelly) and former manager Janey York (Crissy Rock) land in the Solana resort. The customary array of Benidorm’s favourite holidaymakers will appear alongside the ever-resourceful Solana staff including Joyce Temple Savage (Sherrie Hewson), Les/Lesley (Tim Healy) and Mateo (Jake Canuso) who all work to ensure that every guest’s holiday goes to plan.

The wonderful Joan Collins returns as Solana CEO Crystal Hennessy-Vass. Crystal is about to cause huge problems for Joyce Temple Savage and just what will she make of The Oracle? Benidorm ITV new series 2013 The Solana Resort re-opens for business! “Look, what you do in the privacy of your own room is nobody’s business, but you can’t do that here!” Returning to enjoy the four star hotel treatment are Mick Garvey (Steve Pemberton), Janice Garvey (Siobhan Finneran) and Madge Harvey (Sheila Reid). Viewers will be surprised to see how grown up Michael Garvey (Oliver Stokes) has become – he’s now an adventurous teenager who’s set to cause his parents many troubled afternoons by the pool. It’s all change in series six with the arrival of the Dykes, a brand new family set to stir things up at the Solana resort. Heading up the new family are Clive (Perry Benson) and Tonya (Hannah Waddingham) – a lively Watford couple with Clive firmly under the thumb of his no nonsense wife.

They bring their two children with them, Bianca (Bel Powley) and Tiger (Danny Walters) - both are young, single and looking for fun!. Almost immediately the Dykes come across the Garveys – will it be a meeting of minds or will the two families clash over the Solana pool? Other favourites returning are popular swingers Donald Stewart (Kenny Ireland) and Jacqueline Stewart (Janine Duvitski) who intend to claim their free holiday that Joyce Temple Savage (Sherrie Hewson) promised them at the end of the last series. Hunky barman Mateo (Jake Canuso) still holds the fort behind the pool bar with the help of friendly transsexual Les/Lesley (Tim Healey). Liam (Adam Gillen) has now joined Kenneth DuBeke (Tony Maudsley) at his hair salon ‘Blow & Go’ – the very discreet and selective hair and beauty emporium within the Solana resort. Later in the series will see the return of Martin Weedon (Nicholas Burns) who arrives on a loud and lairy stag do – he was last seen at the Solana resort in series 3.

He’s very single on this occasion and finds himself having a ‘drunken encounter’ with one of the known female holidaymakers. Benidorm is also known for it’s guest visitors and series six will be no exception with the return of Matthew Kelly as Cyril Babcock and the arrival of Ken Morley and Phillip Olivier playing new characters. The show’s creator Derren Litten has written all 7 episodes of the new series – "I'm so excited about series 6 of Benidorm, probably more excited than all previous series. Apart from Dynasty series 5 of course, what could possibly top the Moldavian Massacre?" says Derren. Benidorm has been commissioned for ITV by Elaine Bedell, ITV’s Director of Comedy & Entertainment and Comedy Commissioning Editor Myfanwy Moore. Myfanwy Moore says “ "We are all thrilled at ITV to be sharing the sun beds again with our most popular and enduring comedy characters. This series promises to be the sunniest and strongest ever!" Benidorm is produced by Lucy Armitage and directed by David Sant (1-4) and Sandy Johnson (5-7) with Ben Cavey, Derren LItten and Sophie Clarke Jervoise as Executive Producers.

Ben Cavey says “We are so pleased to be back in Spain filming series six of Benidorm. Derren Litten has written seven fantastic scripts, which might be seven of the best episodes yet. Things are certainly heating up by the pool in this series, with some great new characters as well as the return of many of our well-loved regulars”. Benidorm is a Tiger Aspect production for ITV. . Benidorm Diary: I'm stuck in a hotel bedroom with the Garveys – holiday nightmare or comedy heaven? | Radio Times Benidorm Diary: I'm stuck in a hotel bedroom with the Garveys – holiday nightmare or comedy heaven? RT's Patrick Mulkern meets his sitcom heroes, Steve Pemberton, Siobhan Finneran and Sheila Reid Comments Patrick Mulkern 10:00 AM, 07 December 2013 I’m ushered into a minuscule hotel bedroom where Steve Pemberton is waiting for me. “You’ve come on a nice week,” he says, without a hint of menace.

I don’t know what I was expecting, but as I shake the man’s hand, I can’t help being aware that I’m in the presence of Tubbs from the Local Shop, job centre Pauline, toad collector Harvey and tour-guide paedo Herr Lipp. But of course the man who created those unforgettable League of Gentlemen weirdos (and others in Psychoville and Whitechapel) is an extremely amiable man. And he’s here to talk about Benidorm series six and his long-running character, Mick Garvey. The Garveys are coming in one by one today. Next into the room is Siobhan Finneran who plays Janice. “Hi Patrick, I’m Siobh.” I like to think she spells it “Shiv”. That's what it sounds like. She’s wearing a bright floaty sundress but somehow still has a hint about her of the formidable lady's maid Miss O’Brien. The first thing I want to ask her is whether she had to choose between Downton Abbey and Benidorm (which were shooting at the same time). The answer is a firm no.

She says it was an easy decision to leave Downton “because I’d only ever wanted to do three series”. (Back in the summer when I did the interview, we hadn't seen her character's abrupt exit.) How will O’Brien be written out? “No idea,” says Shiv, sounding like she really does not wish to discuss Downton. “I’m hoping she’s flung off the roof of the Abbey. I don’t think I’m gonna get my wish. She may well nip out for a pint of milk and a bag of sugar and nobody ever sees her again. “I loved playing her but I don’t miss wearing black, neck to floor.” O’Brien was a severe Mrs Danvers-like lady’s maid. Did she ever smile? “Oh yeah,” says Shiv, “if she was getting her own way, she smiled a lot. And she was always inwardly smiling, no matter what she was doing.” Now Sheila Reid comes through the door, dressed as Madge in a leopard-print top but without her mobility scooter. A tiny lady, she radiates a benign aura, so unlike her waspish screen character, and in real life speaks without a Northern accent.

“They used to say things like, ‘Ooh, you talk posh,’ but no one says that any more. I suppose because I’ve had a bit of stuff on telly being myself more.” Yet Madge has become an iconic character for the show’s fans. “It’s weird. The scooter thing has taken off to such an extent. There are hen parties. They all come out dressed up as Madge and scooter around Benidorm.” So would she say she was very unlike Madge? “My God, polar opposite!” snorts Shiv. Sheila doesn’t even smoke in real life: “I used to. Madge says she doesn’t like pork in this series but she loves bacon, ham and sausages so she quite likes pork really. I don’t eat meat.” If Sheila and Madge met in real life, would they be pals? Sheila likes this idea: “I think I’d find her quite scary but I’d love her honesty and directness, calling a spade a spade, which is refreshing.” “And,” says Steve, “you’d want borrow some of her clothes.” Sheila chuckles, “C’mon, excuse me. What could be better than that!” All three actors have extremely busy careers.

How difficult is it organising everyone’s schedules to all be available together? “It’s increasingly tricky,” admits Steve, who had to miss a whole episode in series five. This time Derren Litten was able to write around Steve while he was finishing work on ITV’s drama, Whitechapel. “I missed the first two weeks and that’s why Mick ends up in prison at the airport. I couldn’t be around the pool. That’s going to start to stretch credulity going forward.” Shiv points out the practicalities: “If you’re filming round the pool, everyone has to be there. And if you’re in the nightclub, everyone’s there. So like today, we’ve not got much to do, but you’ve got to be in all day to be in the background of everything else, so that’s why it’s so hard for them to do.” “I was also working,” says Sheila, “and I also had some time off, just to breathe, before coming out and that was a headache for our brilliant first AD [assistant director] to plot it all.” They all say they find it easy to slip back into character. “We know them incredibly well now,” says Shiv.

“It’s like putting on an old overcoat really,” says Sheila. “In my case a very old overcoat.” [Sheila pictured left, poolside with RT's Patrick Mulkern] Sheila’s main requirement for Madge is a very dark, fake tan, which takes an age to get off. “I do a lot of scrubbing and exfoliating. It takes a while to seep out of the pores. I’m the only one who’s not been in the pool yet in the whole series.” Steve roars: “She’d turn the water brown!” This series there’s a lot of friction between the Garveys and the new family, the Dykes. Shiv explains: “Yes, their teenage son leads our delightful, angelic teenage son into lots of trouble.” Young Michael comes back with a tattoo on his arm. “We won’t reveal to you what it says.” Will he be stuck with it for ever? Steve says: “What we’ve said is when we go home we’ll have it removed. Although how the Garveys can afford to have tattoos removed…” The Garveys are from Lancashire while the Dykes are from Watford. Is this a deliberate North/South divide?

“There’s definitely a North/South divide,” says Steve, and Shiv adds sharply: “In the real world, oh yes!” Steve explains: “The Garveys love coming to Benidorm and we come every year whereas their family has just arrived and they’re kind of, ‘Urgh, where are we?’ Especially the wife who is like, ‘Why are we in this horrendous place?’ You need that in this show. We’ve always had characters who don’t really like being here.” I ask Steve what it’s like playing Mick, who’s quite a normal guy, compared to his League of Gentlemen or Psychoville characters who were so weird and needed heavy disguises. This must be more relaxing. “Absolutely. I love coming in and the costume is just lying on the bed there, and it’s often just a pair of shorts, with the sun block on the side.” He enjoys the break from the other shows where he has greater creative input. “Here I’m not thinking about the script, the schedule… I’m in the safest hands acting with these guys. We just have a ball. That’s why we’ve come back and done six series of it because we have a tremendous amount of fun.

I wouldn’t want to give all that other stuff up. I’m still doing it in parallel with this.” His next project, with former League associate Reece Shearsmith, is Inside No 9, which he describes as “dark, self-contained comedies for BBC2, a bit Tales of the Unexpected”. He’s filmed three episodes already and is filming three more when back in the UK. “What’s brilliant is having these very dark, cult, odd things and then having this running in parallel. The change keeps you energised.” How do they account for the enduring appeal of Benidorm? Steve: “Miranda and Mrs Brown’s Boys on BBC1 get a lot more attention in a way but Benidorm constantly gets those viewing figures, rising each year, but we don’t do lots of chat shows and the party scene. You need a bit of publicity and Joan Collins coming in to generate interest but it’s just quietly gone about its way.

Word of mouth – that’s what’s made this show what it is.” Shiv agrees: “We had a really firm fan base when we started with series one and then people started buying it on DVD, and for friends who hadn’t seen it, so by the time we got to series four we’d got all those viewers. They love the banter, the family dynamic. It’s like watching people we know or ‘That’s like our family on holiday.’ They’re quite happy to go to the extremes with us. And the sun is shining. Sometimes you’re sitting at home a bit miserable and fed up and you put the telly on and there’s somebody having a laugh and they’re in the sun. I hate January, so it’ll be perfect.” Sheila: “They love it, and it’s all ages, all sexes. It’s extraordinary. It seems to have touched a vein, a funny bone. What’s good is when you go out and meet people, like we do in this hotel corridor, their faces just break into a smile.

It’s real and genuine, and you think, ‘That’s nice – we make people really happy.’” * Benidorm: ‘It’s a very sad time,’ says Steve Pemberton of the Garvey family departure | News | TV News | What's on TV Benidorm: ‘It’s a very sad time,’ says Steve Pemberton of the Garvey family departure TAGS: benidorm steve pemberton Steve Pemberton has said he left Benidorm because he missed his family while shooting the comedy away in Spain. The actor, who recently appeared in Happy Valley, has played patriarch Mick Garvey on the ITV comedy since it began in 2007, and will make his exit during the seventh series, along with his screen family – wife Janice ( Siobhan Finneran , who also starred in Happy Valley), mother-in-law Madge ( Sheila Reid ), daughter Chantelle ( Hannah Hobley ) and son Michael ( Oliver Stokes ). “It’s a long time to be away from home – it’s three months away from the family – so that was a big part in deciding to move on,” says Steve. The Garvey family have already shot their final scenes. “We’ve left Benidorm.

We filmed our scenes early on this year so we’re going to be in the first episode or two of the new series, but then the whole Garvey family are leaving,” Steve explained. “It’s a very sad time, really, but I felt the time was right for us to move on and do different things. And I’m sure the show will go on from strength to strength. “It’s a phenomenon. To do seven series is extraordinary and to have such a big following, but for us – the Garvey family – we all felt it was time to move on and do other things,” he continued. The seventh series of Benidorm , which sees returning cast members Elsie Kelly , Crissy Rock and Johnny Vegas , will air on ITV in 2015. Janice Garvey | Benidorm Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Edit Janice's mother, Madge Harvey ( Sheila Reid ), bring her and her family to Benidorm. In just the first episode Janice's son, Michael Garvey ( Oliver Stokes ), almost drowns and her daughter Chantelle Garvey ( Hannah Hobley ) faints whilst she is on stage! It turns out that Telle is heavily pregnant!

This shocks Janice although she does her best to comfort her. Janice also has to deal with Suzie, a girl who keeps flirting with her husband, Mick Garvey ( Steve Pemberton ). In the 4th episode she gets suspicious when Mick goes missing. She is convinced he is with Suzie and when she hears to people having sex behind the bar she assumes it is Mick and Suzie. She is surprised to discover that it was Mateo Castellanos ( Jake Canuso ) and Troy Ramsbottom ( Paul Bazely )! When the Garvey family win a pub quiz they go to the beach however they are conned! Later in Neptune's Janice sees the woman who conned them on the beach and flattens her! In the final episode of the series a women keeps taking photos of Mick. She reveals she is from the Department of Social Services and that she is going to use the photos as evidence to convict Mick for false incapacity benefit claims! Series 2 Edit In series 2 Madge's new 'boyfriend' Mel Harvey ( Geoffrey Hutchings ) brings her and her family back to Benidorm.

Janice is quite surprised when a man they've only known for a few weeks takes them on holiday and they are even more surprised when Mel proposes to Madge! Janice tries to convince her not to agree to a wed a man they have only known for five minutes however she accidentally says the wrong thing to Madge and she and Mel snub The Garveys! To make things worse for Janice, Mick has forgotten their wedding anniversary and to make herself feel better Janice enjoys the attentions of Jack ( Elliott Jordan ), a handsome young admirer, rather too much. Jack ends up stalking Janice and follows her to Neptune's and even gate crashes her mothers wedding! Summer Special Edit Madge's wedding doesn't go as planned! Mick ends up being arrested for knocking out Mel when he was trying to get Mel's memory back. Therefore Janice tries to get to the police station to help Mick out although Madge drags her into a car and makes Janice come to hospital her. However the car Madge dragged them into belongs to a very dangerous man! He takes them to a cliff and threatens to kill them if they don't stay in his car. Jack comes to try and save Janice but faints when he sees the gun!

Janice and Madge are then taken back to the Solana, and they, along some of the guests, are held hostage - revealing he is a murderer. He took them to the rooftop and threatened that he would throw bodies off the roof if they didn't keep quiet. Mel then turns up in a helicopter, knocking the murderer unconscious with a bat and saves the day! Series 3 Edit In series 3 the Garveys arrive in Benidorm in time for grand opening of his Mel's new mobility shop. In the second episode on a trip to the waterfalls of Callosa, Mick upsets Janice and it looks like their relationship might not survive this fight! To stop the fuss he disappears which worries Janice. But he returns with a special surprise. In the 4th episode one of Janice's sister, Valda arrives in Benidorm for a holiday with her Indian husband. Janice seemed very shocked to see her older sister but wanted to have her mother and her bond better at one of the parties of the resort but ended badly when Madge took a drug that make her go out of control and landed her fall on top of Valda.

In the final episode Janice is upset when Mel and Madge decide to stay in Benidorm and her daughter Telle wants to move out. Christmas Special Edit The Garveys arrive at Benidorm to spend Christmas with Madge and Mel at their luxurious villa. However when they arrive their is no sign of Mel! He tells the Garveys that he was working in Morocco, but it turns out he was in hospital in a critical condition. Whilst at the Benidorm Palace, the Garveys received a heartbreaking phone call when the nurse pronounced Mel dead! Series 4 Edit The Garveys are back in Benidorm to discover that Madge has mysteriously disappeared with her villa sold to Cilla Black! They find Madge whom has been left financial bankrupted! They help eliminate Madge's debts with both Scary Mary and Mr Pink, both big time Benidorm gangsters, and a last-minute bet with the latter saw Madge eliminate her debt, and gain 3,000 euros! When they go to the water park they meet Pauline Mamood ( Selina Griffiths ) and Mick has a strange encounter with her.

In the 4th episode emotions run high for Janice when Johnny Neptune, an old flame of Janice's appears at the Solana. In the final episode when Madge buys a bar in Benidorm the Garveys end up staying in Benidorm! Series 5 Edit Janice, Madge and Michael are on back on holiday whilst Mick is sorting some things out with the sun bed shops back at home. It is revealed that the bar opened in Series 4 did not work out. In the 2nd episode Janice is shocked to see her stalker Jack but he pretends not to remember her! Later on at the dance competition he stops playing hard to get and forces Janice to dance with him luckily Mick arrives in time and puts a stop to it! Janice worries when she hears about organ thieves in Benidorm and when Madge goes missing The Garvey's search all over Benidorm for her. It turns out that Mohammed Mohammed saved Madge from the organ thieves. He reveals himself to be a close business partner of Mel. He states that he has been trying to find Madge for a long while, only to return a cigarette case and an old photo.

Janice is very welcoming of Mohammed however, Mick refuses to believe who he is. Janice is then surprised to find out that Madge wants to marry Mohammed although she reveals she only wants to marry Mohammed due to the legal loopholes that would be involved with transferring money that Mohammed has. Mick later finds out that Mohammed is actually a conman and is only after Madges money. When he finds out she hasn't got any money he doesn't marry Madge! The Garveys take their revenge on Mohammed in a spectacular scene at the jousting arena. In the final episode Janice finds out they're broke when Mick reveals to the rest of the Garveys that all the sunbed shops Mel left them have been destroyed by fire! Series 6 Edit Janice's holiday doesn't get of to the best of starts when Mick gets arrested at Alicante airport as some of Madge's tanning pills are mistaken for drugs! To make things worse Tiger Dyke ( Danny Walters ) leads her son astray and makes him get a tattoo! Clive Dyke ( Perry Benson ) and Donald Stewart ( Kenny Ireland ) take Janice to Alicante airport to pick up Mick when his is released.

Janice gets upset when she hears Madge only has 6 months to live! This turns out to be a misunderstanding as the practice having grown tired by her racism and other negative traits had given her "6 months to leave". Tonya Dyke ( Hannah Waddingham ) takes Janice to the spa but when Janice ends up having to pay for both of them it causes more conflict between the Garveys and Dykes! In the final episode they end up forgiven each other and when Tonya offers Janice the money back she lets her keep it. Series 7 Edit The Garveys are worried Madge is being stalked! They meet a guy called Buck A. Roo who reveals that Madge is about to inherit millions from the Collins family however they believe its a fraud so they tell him to go away! Les Conroy ( Tim Healy ) does some research on Buck A. Roo which finds out he was telling the truth. Therefore the Garvey's go after him and they all leave to go to Las Vegas! Personality: Edit Throughout the series we see Janice portrayed as an feisty, foul-mouthed and quite fantastic woman, but she’s never going to win the best mother of the year award.

She does try and round hey a better expression to describe her role than ‘look after them’. Janice can be very 'fun' and out going when wanting a drink and singing in the bar during the night at the events of Benidorm but can get her head stuck in the clouds a lot with romance, she is very protective of her husband especially if he talks to another woman or starts flirting with them and often remarks them as other punching bags. When she kissed another young bloke when away on holiday behind her husbands back it kind of showed the audience that her love for Mick has down graded over their marriage years and by embracing the bar tender it indicated that Janice wants a bit more of a wow factor in her life. Relationships Edit Janice can be very protective of Mick and always reminds herself that he deserves a second chance whenever he does something wrong like flirting with other females around the holiday swell as saying the wrong things around her. They have a strong bond together with laughter and smiles after taking the piss out of normally Janice's mother or other people around the resort island. As marriage couples do argue, Janice does shout her way of right but knows her place of heart with Mick and does gradually get upset when they have a massive fight.

Edit Like any other parent Janice can be very protective of her children and caring for their welfare especially when she had found out her daughter was pregnant in series 1 season 1 because Janice has a one-to-one with her basically explaining that she will look after her when the baby has arrives, but does occasionally argue aggressively with her children with swear words whenever they are out of order and rude to others. Benidorm Diary: the behind-the-scenes secrets of ITV's hit sitcom | Radio Times Twitter Benidorm Diary: the behind-the-scenes secrets of ITV's hit sitcom RT's Patrick Mulkern goes on set and discovers that the Solana Resort – known to millions of viewers – isn't all filmed in one place Comments Patrick Mulkern 12:00 PM, 07 December 2013 I’ve stood on the sets of some classic sitcoms – The Young Ones, Blackadder and Absolutely Fabulous at BBC Television Centre, even Friends at Warner Bros in Burbank. Nothing quite beats lying in the Mediterranean sun by the pool of the Solana hotel, scene of so many tantrums, hysterics and heroic belly-flops in ITV’s hit show, Benidorm.

Today to my left, sheltering from the midday heat, is the urbane Kenny Ireland, who plays Donald the tubby swinger. We are wearing almost matching shirts. Beside him, engaged in surprisingly polite conversation, is Sheila Reid – a world away from Madge, her foul-mouthed Benidorm alter ego. Across the way, snoozing in the shade, is an all-round comedy god – Steve Pemberton (ex of The League of Gentlemen) who’s played work-shy Mick Garvey for nearly seven years. As if to complete my fantasy sitcom tableau, Siobhan Finneran strides past my sunbed, all dolled up in an orange, butterfly-patterned maxi-dress. She of course plays Janice Garvey, Mick’s don’t-mess-with-me missus. A few feet away, someone flabby and fully clothed is shoved into the pool… I pinch myself. No, I haven’t dozed off and woken up for real in an episode of Benidorm. What’s disorientating is that everyone is dressed as their famous characters but it is actually lunchtime on set. Food is being served for the cast and crew under a canopy on an adjoining tennis court.

After a quick bite, they’re grabbing half an hour’s downtime by the pool before going back to work. The familiar lagoon-like pool, with its unimpressive Neptune fountain and sunken bar (where Mateo serves “all-inclusive” cocktails, if he feels like it), actually belongs to the Sol Pelícanos hotel. Behind a cordon, dozens of fans stand and gawp. Beyond that a sun-lounging area is packed with British holiday-makers eager to glimpse the stars off the telly. Sometimes it can take the actors half an hour to walk a few yards through the enthusiastic crowd. It’s easy to forget how popular Benidorm has become since its 2007 debut, regularly pulling in an audience of seven million-plus. The show’s creator, Derren Litten, planned to call it a day two years ago, but the fans and ITV were having none of it. RT is on set for the sixth series (starting Thursday 2 January) and ITV has already commissioned a seventh. Benidorm goes from strength to strength. Stars clamour for roles – Joan Collins, a big fan of the show, jetted in to shoot an episode a few weeks before my visit.

It’s not all glamour, though. Far from it. It’s been a long day for the cast with a 5am make-up call. They’re filming across the road at Morgan Tavern, which doubles for Neptune’s, the Solana hotel’s karaoke bar we always see in the series. The Solana, of course, doesn’t actually exist – or at least it’s realised via several different locations. The pool is half a mile from the hotel reception (left) and Blow and Go salon, which are a purpose-built set and part of a low-rise block with the show’s production offices on the upper floor. Today, filming takes place entirely inside Morgan’s (aka Neptune’s). Along with a few other press hounds, I’ve been invited to watch some scenes involving a brawl and a disturbing revelation from Madge, which will appear in episode five. It’s supposed to be night-time, so Morgan’s has been wreathed in blackout cloths to block the sunlight. We’ve been invited to interview the actors between takes in a “marquee” outside the tavern.

The marquee turns out to be a green tent no bigger than a standard living room, erected to screen the actors from the horde of fans gathered on the street two feet away. It is sweltering. The space is jammed with metal chairs and tables, and there’s one solitary cooling unit. This is where the actors “relax”. Kenny Ireland plays backgammon with younger cast members. Sherrie Hewson is tweeting on her iPad. Guest star Matthew Kelly keeps a low profile behind a hardback novel (he doesn’t talk to the press). As soon as we arrive, a stagehand passes us some anti-mosquito spray – “Hundreds buzzing around up there!” As I said, little glamour. But I am more than happy. I’m going to be hanging out with my comedy heroes… * Johnny Vegas to return to Benidorm as ITV confirms Series 7 - News - British Comedy Guide Johnny Vegas to return to Benidorm as ITV confirms Series 7 Johnny Vegas to return to Benidorm as ITV confirms Series 7 Friday 21st March 2014, 12:01am ITV has confirmed it has ordered a seventh series of its holiday-based sitcom Benidorm .

The new series, which is set to go into production this month, will see the return of three former cast members. Notably Johnny Vegas , who starred in the first three series of the show, will return as Lancashire pub quiz champion Geoff Maltby, aka The Oracle. Geoff was last seen sailing off into the sunset with Chantelle Garvey, but there is no news yet on whether he is still dating her. Also joining Vegas back on set will be Elsie Kelly , who plays his mother Noreen and was last seen in Series 5; and Crissy Rock , who played surly hotel worker Janey York in the first five series of the show. ITV says: "Many of your favourite holidaymakers will be appearing throughout the new series, with the ever-resourceful Solana staff including Joyce Temple Savage ( Sherrie Hewson ), Les/Lesley ( Tim Healy ) and Mateo ( Jake Canuso ) back to ensure everyone's holiday goes to plan." The show's creator Derren Litten is writing all the scripts for the new run, and the plan is to once again include various guest stars. Storylines and details on the planned cameos will be announced nearer transmission.

News that the show has been given another series has been expected as Benidorm continues to perform strongly for ITV . The sixth series, which recently completed its run, averaged an impressive 6.8 million viewers, with the opening episode scoring ratings of 7.9 million. Benidorm 's figures have been rising, with the 2014 broadcasts up 2.8 million viewers and 7 share points on 2013. ITV commissioner Elaine Bedell says: "After another successful run on screen we're thrilled that a new series is about to start shooting on location in Spain. We're equally pleased that some familiar faces from the Solana's past will be making a welcome return to the sunshine." Broadcast dates have not yet been set for the next series of Benidorm , however it is expected to follow the pattern of previous series by starting in the January next year. ITV4 is currently repeating the show, with the first series being re-shown on Tuesday nights. Update: The Garvey family will leave during Series 7.

Siobhan Finneran , Steve Pemberton , Sheila Reid and Oliver Stokes - the actors who play Janice, Mick, Madge and Michael - will be written out of the show. Writer Derren Litten posted on Twitter: "Yes, it's true, The Garveys will be leaving during series VII. But as we all know, in Benidorm, it's always adios and never goodbye." Benidorm Season 1 : Watch online now with Amazon Instant Video: Steve Pemberton, Sheila Reid, Oliver Stokes, Kenny Ireland, Siobhan Finneran, Tiger Aspect Productions: Amazon.co.uk By russell clarke VINE VOICE on 21 Nov. 2007 Format: DVD Sit-coms have become a graveyard for writers and terrestrial channels over the last few years-the dire "My Family" apart -though shows subverting the genres like "Spaced " and "The Mighty Boosh" have done very well.Benidorm suddenly appeared with little fanfare on ITV in February 2007 in the 10.00p.m slot and from the first episode it was clear that this something sufficiently different from the normal cosy suburban sit-com to mark it out as worth watching.

Written by Derren Litten, co-writer of The Catherine Tate Show Benidorm is set in an all inclusive apartment complex-The Solana Apartments- in the popular Spanish resort. The programme exploits the stereotypical working class depiction of Benidorm and seems uncertain whether it,s revelling in the rampaging tackiness of it all or condemning it as a soulless shallow exploitative enterprise.The truth is likely to be somewhere between the two but the real crux of the matter is whether it is funny or not and Benidorm is often very funny indeed-though it is a coarse bawdy type of humour that some may find offensive. The shows very simple premise is to have disparate groups of people interact while they lounge around the pool, in their rooms or attend any of the complex,s horrendous entertainment nights.There is quiz show champ Geoff Matlby aka"The Oracle" ( Johnny Vegas) and his mother (Elsie Kelly)who he constantly badgers to test him with quiz questions.

The Garvey family -dad Mick( Steve Pemberton), mum Janice ( Siobhan Finnerhan), teenage daughter Chantelle( Hannah Hobley) who is harbouring a secret(Not very well it must be said), young son Michael(Oliver Stokes) and Janices mother Madge( Sheila Reid), a wheelchair bound sun worshipping chain smoking bundle of spite. Read more › Benidorm's Steve Pemberton: I had a heart attack at 25... but it took me 20 years to scare me into losing two stone - Mirror Online TV Benidorm's Steve Pemberton: I had a heart attack at 25... but it took me 20 years to scare me into losing two stone Actor Steve Pemberton has more important reasons for staying in shape and started dieting and took up jogging last year Share Get celebs updates directly to your inbox + Subscribe Could not subscribe, try again laterInvalid Email Before: Steve as Mick Garvey prior to weight loss (Photo: ITV) Fans of sun and sangria sitcom Benidorm have noticed something has been missing from the show.

Mick Garvey’s beer belly, proudly shown off in the first four series, disappeared for the latest season after actor Steve Pemberton lost two stone. And it has nothing to do with vanity. After suffering a heart attack when he was just 25, Steve has more important reasons for staying in shape. He says: “As you get older the things that really scare you are the thoughts of anything bad happening to your family... and your own mortality.” He had the heart attack when he was working for a theatre company in Germany. He recalls: “I didn’t feel well so they took me to hospital. I had tests and the doctor told me very seriously ‘I cannot tell you there is nothing wrong with your heart’. "Once I’d worked out the double negative and realised what he meant it was very frightening. “I was told I’d had a myocardial infarction, a heart attack. “When I got back to the UK and had other tests they couldn’t find any trace of it so I still don’t really know what happened. After: Slimline Steve with co-star Siobhan (Photo: ITV) "I’m OK, though, touch wood. Everything is fine.

But hearing about what happened to the footballer Fabrice Muamba recently – you couldn’t help but be concerned. “But I’m aware of what happened to me and have regular check-ups. I lost two stone last year by dieting and taking up jogging. “I was writing episodes of Benidorm and was finally able to manage my time to fit in the exercise.” Steve, 44, found fame as one of the team behind the darkly comic League of Gentlemen. He also stars in crime thriller Whitechapel but is best loved by millions as Benidorm’s sunbed slacker Mick. Viewers quickly warmed to the penny-pinching Lancastrian with a love of Hawaiian shirts and a seething hatred of mother-in-law Madge. Steve loves acting and writing scripts for the award-winning ITV comedy. “It’s a tremendous show to film – everyone has a ball and the people are so nice,” he says. “What could be better than turning up to work and sitting by a pool in the sunshine? “People have great affection for Benidorm. It’s not everyone’s idea of a good time, and it would never have been mine before I went.

“There’s a season when all the stag and hen parties go and that can be a little bit threatening but we film off-season and I’ve never seen a fight or leery ‘Brits abroad’ antics. “There’s no pretension about Benidorm. No one cares what they look like, they just let it all hang out and have a good time. League role: Steve as jobseeking coach Pauline (Photo: BBC) "I’m not a big party animal but I enjoy lying on a sun lounger by a pool like Mick but with a book, not a beer. “I can normally make the best of a holiday, even if things go wrong. We had a tough time at Disneyland Paris once when my other half went into meltdown. “Her handbag and purse had been snatched, the kids were running off in different directions, jolly music was being piped everywhere and we were surrounded by big characters with oversized heads. “When things go wrong somewhere like that it can easily feel like you’re in a nightmare rather than the most fun place in the world.

The kids would tell you we had a great time, though.” For some fans Steve’s role in sunny Spain playing opposite Siobhan Finneran as long-suffering wife Janice will never eclipse the string of creepy characters he first created in 1995 with League of Gentleman mates Reece Shearsmith, Mark Gatiss and Jeremy Dyson. People still call out “Are you local?” when Steve walks down the street, mimicking the terrifying, pig-snouted owners of Royston Vasey’s Local Shop and their stock of “precious things” like carbolic soap and sticks. Steve, Reece, Mark and Jeremy met at Bretton Hall drama college near Wakefield, West Yorks, and bonded over their shared love of horror movies. They’d all spent summers watching scary films with the curtains drawn while their mums nagged them to play in the sunshine. Whitechapel: Steve as Buchan (Photo: BBC) Steve, now a father-of-three, grew up in Chorley, Lancashire, and lives in North London with actress girlfriend Alison and their kids, Lucas, 11, Madeleine nine, and Adam, six.

He spent Adam’s sixth birthday running round the house in a towelling dressing gown with mascara moles painted on his face and a hairdo made from tights. His lad had been to Matilda the Musical and loved baddie Miss Trunchbull, so asked his dad to recreate her. “I spent the day chasing kids around the house and threatening to lock them in ‘the chokey’ – or in our case a warm airing cupboard,” Steve explains. “The neighbour’s children may never come to our house again but Adam had a ball.” While fatherhood hasn’t mellowed his dark sense of humour, he does fear that gothic horror and ghost stories are being replaced by “gore-nography”. He says: “Lucas wanted to see The Woman in Black – it’s a 12 certificate and he’s 11 – but it’s like The Others, which he also saw recently: very scary but not in a blood, guts and gore way. “Horror stories and ghost stories are meant to send a shiver down your spine like comedies make you laugh. Psychoville: Steve as David (Photo: BBC) “But Lucas is getting very curious now so I have to keep an eye on him.

I wouldn’t allow him to watch The Exorcist or any real video nasties. “Sadly, the boundaries are being pushed further and further these days. “Instead of chilling stories that make you go ‘Ooooh’ you have films that make you want to turn away from the screen and go ‘Ugh’ because they are repellent.” So, what scares Steve these days? His reply is typically bizarre. “I’ve always been scared of cows – great big, lumbering, mindless creatures with big block teeth that look like they’re going to bite you.” In 2009 Steve and Reece reunited to create BBC2’s nightmarish Psychoville about a group of misfits. They included sex-crazed make-up artist Hattie, midwife Joy who thinks her demonstration baby doll is real, blind millionaire Mr Lomax, and Mr Jelly, a one-armed, foul-mouthed clown who terrifies children. “Mr Jelly came easily,” says Steve. “He was based on that whole breed of slightly embittered child entertainers that you see at kids’ parties, clearly not following a vocation and resenting having to deal with kids who kick them and swear at them.

“But Mr Jelly helped me get over my fear of clowns.” Psychoville: Steve as Hattie (Photo: BBC) Despite calls from League fans, there are still no plans for a new series. Steve says: “Nothing’s likely to happen in the near future but we’re all still really close friends and meet up and have a laugh. So we haven’t nailed the coffin shut completely.” Steve and Reece have just finished writing a pilot for “a one-off Tales of the Unexpected-type show”. They are also about to be reunited on screen with Mark for the first time since 2005 when they star in kids’ comedy sketch show Horrible Histories which airs this month. “We play film executives hearing pitches from various historical characters like Dick Whittington and Robert the Bruce, trying to get their life stories made into movies,” he says. “It was great fun but it will be the nearest we’ll get to a League of Gentleman reunion for a while.” Steve is currently delighting audiences in a very different role – as Mr Hardcastle in the Restoration comedy She Stoops to Conquer at the National Theatre.

Psychoville: Steve as Mr Lomax (Photo: BBC) “It’s been a lot of hard work but great fun,” says Steve. “It’s nice to have a bit of variety.” And fans could also see Steve reprising his role in ITV’s creepy crime drama Whitechapel. In the past two series he played eccentric historian and amateur sleuth Ed Buchan, who helps police track killers who mimic the crimes of Jack the Ripper and the Kray twins. “It was very well received so there could be another series,” he says. “Truth is always stranger than fiction and the writers very cleverly mixed fact with fiction. Our fascination with psychopaths and the fact that the murders are based on real-life crimes are what make it so popular.” He adds: “The thrill of being scared by a horror film is the same as my six-year-old’s desire to be chased, screaming, by Miss Trunchbull. “It’s a safe environment in which to experience something that scares us... As long as we know it’s only Daddy with tights on his head.” * Benidorm series five is available on DVD from Monday and the complete boxset is out on April 25. Like us on Facebook Most Read Most Recent

Question: In which ITV comedy do Steve Pemberton and Siobhan Finneran play 'Mick' and 'Janice Garvey'?
Answer: 'BENIDORM'